Monday, November 14, 2011

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

If your household has fallen victim to the cold and flu season, the healthiest among you (hopefully, that’s you) is now charged with concocting the homespun cure of the ages, homemade chicken noodle soup. This chicken noodle soup recipe deviates from the norm a little, but in a good way. How so? It calls for an additional ingredient that packs an extra punch of vitamins (C and E, to be exact), for a chicken noodle soup remedy that is truly nutritious – yes, even more nourishing than your mom’s (sorry!). What is it, you ask?

Dunt-da-da-daaa! It’s the yellow bell pepper.

Now I know what you’re thinking…if you hate bell peppers, that is. But even if you do, you have to believe that not only does the yellow bell pepper taste wonderfully different than it’s green counterpart (in fact, it’s even milder than the sweet red pepper), but also that in this recipe, the yellow bell pepper is so thoroughly pureed that it liquefies into the soup while cooking. Basically, all you’ll notice is the bright, sunny sheen it gives your homemade chicken noodle soup. That’s right, it even makes it look more nutritious!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

2 tbs. olive oil

4 cups chicken stock, homemade or store bought

2-3 cups cooked chicken

1 small brown or white onion, chopped roughly

1 yellow bell pepper

1 stalk celery, diced

1 carrot, peeled and sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 cups uncooked egg noodles

Salt to taste

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

In a large pot, heat olive oil and add onions, celery and carrots. Cook over medium high heat until onions are translucent and all ingredients are soft, about two minutes.

While these are cooking, place chopped yellow bell pepper into food processor or blender. Pulse until nearly liquefied. It should look something like this:

Then, return to your pot. Add chicken, stock, garlic and liquefied yellow pepper. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer with lid tilted for 1 ½ hours. Add uncooked noodles and raise heat. Cook until noodles are soft. Garnish with chopped parsley and add salt to taste. Remove from heat, serve...and get well sooner than you can imagine!